God made man perfectly holy and happy; and the fair earth, as it came from the Creator's hand, bore no blight of decay or shadow of the curse. It is transgression of God's law--the law of love--that has brought woe and death. Yet even amid the suffering that results from sin, God's love is revealed. It is written that God cursed the ground for man's sake. Genesis 3:17. The thorn and the thistle--the difficulties and trials that make his life one of toil and care--were appointed for his good as a part of the training needful in God's plan for his uplifting from the ruin and degradation that sin has wrought. The world, though fallen, is not all sorrow and misery. In nature itself are messages of hope and comfort. There are flowers upon the thistles, and the thorns are covered with roses.

"God is love" is written upon every opening bud, upon every spire of springing grass. The lovely birds making the air vocal with their happy songs, the delicately tinted flowers in their perfection perfuming the air, the lofty trees of the forest with their rich foliage of living green -- all testify to the tender, fatherly care of our God and to His desire to make His children happy.

Man must begin to the unitary principle of man – knowing that there are not separate men or separate individuals, but hat the whole man idea is one. He must know that all mankind is connected with every other part of mankind, all geared together by the one omnipresent Light of God which centers all as ONE and motivates all as ONE. Until man knows that separation from God is impossible, even for one second, he does not begin to have knowledge.

Every pair of opposites is divided by an equilibrium which is a balance between the two, but that balance is nit either of the two. Sodium-chloride is an equilibrium which voids both sodium and chlorine, for neither is present in it. Likewise, water is the equator which voids hydrogen and oxygen. All opposites of all kinds extend from a mutual equator which is their common unity, and to that equator they must eventually return in order to repeat. Every pair must become one in order to again become two. Men and women do not escape this two-way reciprocatve law. Each becomes what the other is. Both are always compromising each other’s unbalance. If the two unbalances are equal and opposite, each type will survive and grow mentally, spiritually and physically. If the two unbalanced mates are unequal in their opposition, the penalty is degeneration – mentally, spiritually and physically. The quality of one mate is a compromise with the quality of the other. The pattern resulting from this spiritual, mental and moral development is compromised for good or bad by every contact between them – no matter how slight. This is true even outside the sex union.

Even sorrow or sympathy for the afflicted, or grief for the passing of loved ones, unbalances the body cells and makes one vulnerable to infections or destructive toxins, for such emotions have no relation to love or the inner joyousness of love-inspired man, nor are they within the God-Mind which alone knows unchanging ecstasy. ... Grief is selfish. It is indulged in for self-gratification, not for love. Cosmic man knows the beauty and unreality of death. Sympathy for the afflicted makes a reality of the affliction by its recognition as an infliction, while sorrow for the loss of anything, or for the »unfortunate« condition of anybody, is forgetful of the beauty and abundance of all-giving God and Nature. The Mind of God knows but one unchanging emotion – ECSTASY – the ecstasy of Love – the ecstasy which has its beginnings in an inner joyousness of one who is far on the road to the discovery of his immortal Self.

There is a scientific explanation of healings by the power of Mind over matter which demonstrates that such healings are not miracles, but are within Nature’s law which cannot be transcended by either man or God. The Fact that they were beyond man’s comprehension did not prove that they were supernatural – for an airplane or radio would have been thought supernatural to dwellers in places far removed even one generation ago.

Beyond the genius is the mystic. The mystic is one who has attained cosmic consciousness by a complete severance of the seats of consciousness and sensation. He is then almost totally unaware of his body and is totally aware of the Light of God centering him. Omniscience comes to him in that timeless blinding flash of light which is characteristic of a complete severance. This experience was described in the illumination of St. Paul. Every timeless flash of intense inspiration which comes to any man is a partial illumination, for inspiration is the manner in which new knowledge comes to man from the cosmos. Of all mystics, Jesus was the outstanding example of all time. He was the only One in all history to have known complete cosmic-conscious unity with God. The Bible refers to cosmic-conscious experience as “the illumination” or “being in the Light” or “in the Spirit.” In all history less than forty cases of partial cosmic consciousness are known, and probably not more that three of these anywhere nearly approached the complete state of illumination experienced by the Nazarene. Cosmic Consciousness is the ultimate goal of all mankind. All will know it before the long journey of man is finished, but there are many in this new age just dawning who are ready for it in part, if not fully. Many desire it fully, but it is best that it come bit by bit for the complete severance is very dangerous. The ecstasy of this supreme experience is so great that one does not wish to come back. The power of severance of soul from body is within easy accomplishment, but to step back into the body is very difficult.